Pastor Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas

16. Pastor Maldonado

Source: sportinglife.aol

Pastor Maldonado managed to secure Williams' first win in over eight years at the Spanish Grand Prix in 2012.

The win also saw him become the first ever Venezuelan to win a Formula One Grand Prix.

The 28 year-old driver demonstrated his class early in the 2012 season however, poor decision making prevented him scoring more points.

Following his maiden victory he then failed to score a single point in his next nine races. He was also punished by stewards on several occasions for his role in on-track collisions.

Maldonado is convinced that Williams have managed to improve their car, he said:

"There is an improvement, a big one. It's a step forward."

"We have good data here from last year so I confirmed a step in performance. The car seems to be very comfortable on the track."

"I'm very happy because it's the best car I have [driven], especially in the first test."

"Last year's car was good, competitive all through the year, but I think there is a clear step forward on this car."

17. Valtteri Bottas

Source: Setanta

Valtteri Bottas replaces Bruno Senna at Williams following a successful year as their official test driver in 2012.

Bottas took part in 15 FP1 sessions last term, therefore, it shouldn't be too surprising that he found a place on the grid.

The 2011 GP3 Champion was thrilled to earn his race seat through his performances rather than financial reasons, he said:

"It's difficult to say if you're special or normal, but I think that all the drivers who get to F1, they're really good drivers and they deserve to be in F1."

"It's nice to see that Williams chose me as a race driver and I'm really happy that they see the potential in me."

"They've trusted me for three years now as a test driver and they finally got me a race seat, so now it's really up to me to show that I deserve the place."

"I still think some drivers are out there who maybe deserve the place but just don't have the financial backing that some other drivers do," explained the 23 year-old Finn.

"I think also to get to F1 you need to be in the right place at the right time."

"I just ended up here and I've been pushing for that really, really hard, so now it's just time to deliver."